as we await president obama's news conference 30 minutes away. >>> that is a live picture of the white house, everyone. the president's news conference begins in 30 minutes from now. we will count you down every step of the way. fiscal cliff will obviously be one of the top topics this hour. brian sullivan, eamon javers, john harwood is working his way into the white house right now for that news conference. they are all gathered with me. brian, we're going to begin with you. >> this is a big day at the white house. this is a big week at the white house regarding the fiscal cliff, guys. and today, 12 top ceo are coming here to the white house to meet with the president, anything from walmart to duke energy to ursula burns of xerox and nine others. they will gather up, they will huddle up and exchange ideas to try to find a fix for the fiscal cliff. the question is, how much is the president willing to give on spending cuts, how much is the gop willing to perhaps give on tax increases and revenue enhancements, and what will the ceos say, ask and demand? eamon javers here also at the whi